Of snobs and experts

At what point does a beer geek – or any connoisseur – cross the line and become a snob? Perhaps a little quiz would be enlightening:

Is the protagonist in each scenario a geek or snob?

1. A man walks into a bar and orders a beer he has had many times. Upon his first sip, he notes that the beer tastes uncharacteristically sour. He tells his friend about the off flavor but drinks the pint, anyway.

2. A man walks into a bar and orders a beer he has had many times. Upon his first sip, he notes that the beer tastes uncharacteristically sour. He sends it back, mentioning the flaw to the bartender and asking for a different beer.

3. A man walks into a bar and orders a beer he has had many times. Upon his first sip, he notes that the beer tastes as expected. He looks around and sees a man drinking Zima. He tells his friend and they enjoy a laugh making jokes about Malternative Guy’s beverage selection.

Which man, if any, is the snob?

To me, the man in scenario 3 defines a “beer snob”. He is ridiculing someone solely based on their choice of beverage. That seems like a pretty good definition, but is it really that simple?

What of a knowledgeable beer drinker who tries to explain to a Heineken drinker why their beer tastes like road-kill? A skunked Heineken really does smell more like skunk spray then beer, but is someone a snob for saying it?

Perhaps the answer is “yes” if the information is not solicited.

I’ve heard of a person being labeled “snob” because they dare to express an opinion about what they like to drink. For example, when I attend a function such as a wedding and the beer selection is typically boring, I choose not to drink. Some might think me a “snob” for such a decision, but is that fair?

If someone has good knowledge of something, is it wrong for them to shun what they feel are lesser examples? A more accessible analogy might be found in backyard gardens:

People who grow their own tomatoes know what a good one should taste like. These same people will go for months without their favorite fruity vegetable rather than eat the tasteless, mealy pinkish-red orbs passed off as tomatoes in winter months. Are these people snobs, or do they just know a bad tomato when they see it?

The next question might be more difficult: what defines an “expert?” Fifteen years ago, I thought I knew a lot about a beer. I was an avid homebrewer with a wall full of blue ribbons from beer contests. Yet here I am, 15 years later, able to look back and think about how little I knew.

I certainly did know a lot about beer styles and brewing back then, but 12 years of professional brewing, reading pro-level texts and journals, and travel to numerous breweries has made me realize how much more there is to learn. I’d say most people would regard me as an expert, at least as a brewpub brewer and general beer geek. But how do you gauge a person’s knowledge without knowing their resume?

A recent piece in the Washington Post brought this issue to the front of my mind last week. The author, a person paid to write about beer for a major newspaper, talks about how craft brewers are now brewing and marketing beers using only one hop variety. The article is informative (in that it helps to market several specific brands) and novices to the beer world might think it expert.

The problem is that brewers have been making beers from single hop varieties for as long as hops have been used in beer. That’s about 800 years. One need not go back that far to find examples, nor need one go abroad. I was making and marketing all-Amarillo beers here in Albany over a decade ago, and I was far from the first to do such a thing.

The author points out that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has been “single hopped” for decades, but argues that only now are brewers marketing their beers as such. This is nonsence. How does anybody know that SNPA is a single-hop beer? Because they said so in their marketing materials 20 years ago!

Pilsner Urquell, the world’s first Pilsner beer, is famous for its exclusive use of Saaz hops. I guess this is a pretty new trend; they’ve only been brewing the stuff since 1842. Seeing as people have been brewing since before recorded history, I guess that really is pretty recent!

14 Responses

1. Observant but not assertive….
2. Observant and Assertive
3. Zima is like so 1990…. the guy deserves to be laughed at…..

Zima is a malt based beverage but is not beer.

I think the difference between a beer snob and a been enthusiast is whether when finding out there is no Southern Tier, Stone, Troegs, etc. etc. , that you refuse to drink the offered bud, labatts, silver bullets, PBR, miller lites, etc………. Even if you typically drink on the craft end, it is crucial to have a lower price alternative you can stomach…

Speaking of Beer enthusiasm, what does everybody think of Bomb Lager from Wilkes Barre PA…. slowly filtering into the market at least in Hoosbev (troy) and Westmere (guilderland)… Good beer for the summer, it is in a can (Saratoga, anyone?), and looks more like an energy drink in appearance and marketing…. currently very affordable as the head brewer trying to brake into this market as it is only about three hours away…….

I currently have one thing that I think only a beer brewing snob might appreciate, it is a tear shaped, ten gallon glass carboy which I feel is ideal for high OG yeasts in particular, and only someone pretty well immersed in brewing would appreciate the extra capacity and the shape to promote total conversion.

I’m not sure why this is such an important distinction to make but apparently people feel the need to discuss it. For example, on Beer Advocate I would consider the snob thread to be the number one most repeated topic. It usually starts like “You’re at an event and the only beer served is Bud, Miller or Coors. Do you drink what’s served, stick to water, drink mixed drinks or call them out on the poor beer selection.” Typically that thread gets over a hundred responses. Surprisingly the “If I buy cold beer at the store and let it warm up at home, will it hurt the beer?” runs a close second.

For the record my response is “Bring a twelve of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale if appropriate or drink whats served if not” to the first one and “No, unless the temperature range is extreme and rapid” to the second one.

Cycling the beer from cold to warm and back again will harm a beer in the following ways. The rate of temperature change is not a factor, other than it is bad for beer to be warm:

1. Unfiltered or coarsely filtered beers will form a haze when they are re-chilled. This haze is flavorless and therefore no concern to some drinkers, but a huge turn-off to many others. Beers from small breweries will often throw a haze after just one or two temperature cycles. Highly-polished mass-market lagers can endure quite a few cycles before they become cloudy.

2. When beer is warm, the chemical reactions that cause staling are faster than when the beer is cold. The longer beer is held warm, the more staling will occur, so it is best to keep it cold as much of its life as possible.

This is alittle off topic but I was wine tasting with my best friend at that place in Saratoga on Broadway and she said “hmmm this one tastes like Zima”. The owner walked off in a huff. It was hilarious!

I don’t mind beer snobs or geeks really and I like people who know what they want. Speaking of that, there’s an amazing brewery in Northern Vermont..Hill Farmstead brewery. Those snobs only sell their beer at their brewery, and by draft at a few places in VT and NYC. Can you work on getting some of that into a bar in this area? Their Edward American Pale Ale is maybe the best I’ve ever had, but I can’t remember because I’ve only had it the one time, and I’m dying to try their IPA. I harass them about bringing their beer to the Capital Region frequently on Facebook, but I need some more help…

I would agree that storing beer cold is the way to go, but when asked the question “Your beverage center has the beer you want in the cooler, but none on the floor. You don’t have enough room in your refrigerator to fit the whole twelve. Do you buy or not buy?” I buy. This scenario is increasingly more realistic as both Westmere Beverage and Savemore Beverage have expanded their craft cooler sections so there’s more beer sold out of the coolers.

It could be the beers I’m buying, but I’ve never noticed a difference in taste or clarity when beer purchased cold is allowed to warm. Additionally, how do you know how many warm cold cycles your beer purchase has had on its way to your fridge?

Yes, we agree that cold is the way to go, and I also agree that it is fine to buy beer that is cold even if you will be storing it warm for a little while.

The rate of temperature change is unimportant at home. In fact, cooling warm beer as quickly as possible will add precious minutes to its shelf life by reducing its warm time. Keep in mind that when beer is pasteurized, the goal is to heat it from cellar temp (32F) to the target temperature (usually around 160F) as quickly as possible. The beer is maintained at the target temp for the necessary time (usually a minute or so) and then very quickly chilled back down to near 32F. Using a plate heat exchanger, this “flash pasteurization” can be accomplished in just a few minutes.

The heat the beer sees during pasteurization is much greater than it would usually experience in the marketplace, but the point is that rapid temperature changes are not detrimental; keeping the beer warm is. I should also point out that shipping containers on boats and trucks can approach 160F in the summer (studies have been done). That’s why beer that’s traveling far to get to you may taste particularly damaged: it’s been “pasteurized” for days!

@1, I was talking with the manager(?) of Olivers about Bomb. I said I didn’t really care for it, it reminded me of Becks (which I really don’t like). He laughed and said that german lager was the exact profile they were shooting for and that I paid them the highest compliment i could. So there you go…

I wouldn’t call someone a snob if they didn’t drink a beer that didn’t meet their standards. I have done it before too. But I would call someone a snob if they keep bringing up the fact that they beer is inferior. No one should judge another person because they like or dislike a certain beer. We all have our own unique tastes and perceptions of the beer. So a snob is not someone who has a strong opinion, but someone who looks down on those that don’t agree with them. That is where I personally draw the line.

Snobs do exist… and they never think it’s them. The tomato analogy works well, if the tomato grower doesn’t buy tomatoes at the store, not a snob. But if they “insult” a friend/family member’s sauce or Caprese Salad because of inferior tomatoes, snob. Some things are more important than your “expertise”.

Its tough to clarify what is a snob and what is just a geek. By and large we live in a macro beer world and while I don’t prefer it, if I am in a social situation where that is all there is, I may have some. I get annoyed when the offerings are short-sighted, such as only having Bud and Bud Light and nothing else. These beverages shouldn’t be allowed to be called beer, yet are sometimes the one size fits all choice we are offered. The question is am I a snob if I am only obnoxious about finding this annoying? I think the true snobs are the ones you find at beer bars and while I am sitting there enjoying a Double IPA, feel the needs to “educate” me as to why Belgian quadrupels are somehow better.